Wednesday, May 18, 2016

WASHINGTON — A proposal to extend health coverage for Agent Orange
exposure to Vietnam-era Navy veterans has the type of backing in
Congress that normally would make supporters hopeful.

In the House, a bill granting the benefits has garnered a whopping 320
sponsors – almost 75 percent of all members have signed on in support.
Nearly half of all senators also support extending benefits to the
so-called “blue water” sailors who served aboard ships in ports and
surrounding ocean during the Vietnam War.

“If you served just offshore, you don’t have presumed coverage,” said
Rep. Chris Gibson, R-N.Y., a retired Army colonel who sponsored the
House bill. “Members of Congress have to fight case by case … It should
not have to be that way, they should get presumed coverage.”

But the legislation has collected dust for a year, failing to move past
House and Senate veteran affairs committees that serve as a crucial
first step on the road to making the benefits law. The Republican
chairmen of these committees are skeptical of the science behind the
exposure claims and concerned about the cost of new benefits. This has
held up the proposals, frustrating supporters.

The window for Congress to act might be closing – despite the support
-- as lawmakers face the long summer recess, a fall schedule dominated
by the presidential election and the end of the legislative session in
December.

Gibson, Senate lawmakers and veterans groups, including Vietnam
Veterans of America and Veterans of Foreign Wars, were set to rally on
Capitol Hill on Wednesday in hopes of finally moving the bills ahead.
The expansion of coverage has been sought by veterans for a decade.

“We’ve never been in a stronger positon to get it passed,” Gibson said.